1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mobile electronic equipment incorporating a rechargeable battery and also relates to a battery charger cradle for recharging a battery incorporated in the mobile electronic equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been developed a battery charger cradle for recharging a battery incorporated in mobile electronic equipment, where electric power is carried from a primary coil to an induction coil (a secondary coil) by the effect of electromagnetic induction. Refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H09-63655 (1997) and Japanese Utility Model Registration U-3011829.
Described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H09-63655 (1997) is a structure that the primary coil excited by a high-frequency power source is incorporated in the battery charger cradle and that the induction coil electromagnetically coupled to the primary coil is incorporated in a battery pack. The battery pack also incorporates a circuit in which an alternating current induced to the induction coil is rectified and supplied to the rechargeable battery for a charging operation. In accordance with such structure, the battery pack is placed on the battery charger cradle so that the battery contained in the battery pack can be recharged in a non-contact state.
Also described in Japanese Utility Model Registration U-3011829 is a structure that the battery is contained in the bottom of the mobile electronic equipment and that a secondary-side charging adaptor is provided subjacently to the battery so that the induction coil and charging circuit are incorporated in the secondary-side charging adaptor. Also described is a structure that the primary coil electromagnetically coupled to the induction coil is provided to the battery charger cradle. The mobile electronic equipment coupled to the secondary-side charging adaptor is placed on the battery charger cradle, and the electric power is carried from the primary coil to the induction coil to recharge the battery contained in the mobile electronic equipment.